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Police officers stand outside the synagogue in West Bloomfield.
Image: Keystone/AP/Corey Williams
An armed man crashed his car into the largest Reform synagogue in the US and was shot dead by security forces. The FBI is investigating. The reasons for the crime are still unclear.
The FBI is investigating a suspected attack on a synagogue in the US state of Michigan as a "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community". This was announced by the FBI on Thursday (local time). Jennifer Runyan, the lead investigator of the FBI office in Detroit, described the incident as "deeply disturbing and tragic". The FBI will lead the investigation. The motive for the crime is still unclear.
According to the federal authorities, the suspect was a 41-year-old US citizen who had entered the USA from Lebanon in 2011 and was granted citizenship in 2016.
The man, armed with a rifle, had driven a car into the Jewish house of worship in West Bloomfield outside Detroit on Thursday. He was shot dead there by the synagogue's security service, according to investigators, the AP has learned. The vehicle caught fire after the collision.
The attacker drove his vehicle through several doors and came to a stop in an entrance area, where something in the car apparently caught fire, said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. Surveillance video footage showed that the man was very determined. "What drove this person to commit the crime needs to be determined by the investigation," Bouchard said.
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield claims to have 12,000 members, making it the largest of the Reform synagogues in the USA, which are characterized by a more modern interpretation of the Jewish faith. It also houses a childcare facility.
Smoke rose above the building complex of a synagogue near Detroit. Local media reported that an armed attacker had driven a car into the synagogue.
Screenshot The Daily News on X
Neither the synagogue staff, teachers nor the 140 children at a pre-school center were injured, said Bouchard. One of the security guards was hit by the vehicle and fell unconscious, but did not suffer any life-threatening injuries. According to Bouchard, 30 emergency personnel were also treated for smoke inhalation. Numerous parents rushed to the childcare facility after police gave the all-clear.
Cassi Cohen, Director of Strategic Development at Temple Israel, was standing in the hallway where the car had crashed. She heard a loud bang, grabbed some employees and ran into an office, she told the AP. "When I heard the impact, I knew it was bad," Cohen said.
Near the scene of the accident was a classroom that housed young children no more than four years old. In addition, more than 30 staff members were present in the synagogue, he said. "Fortunately, we have conducted many emergency drills for rampage situations, and our staff is prepared for such situations," Cohen said.
Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter attends Temple Israel's day care center, said she received a message from a staff member that all the children were safe even before she knew what had happened. "There are no words. I was completely shocked," she told the AP.
Television footage showed smoke billowing from the synagogue and dozens of police vehicles surrounding the building.
The crime scene in West Bloomfield, Mich. (March 12, 2026)
Image: Keystone/Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP
President Donald Trump said he had been informed of the attack and called it "a terrible thing". "This is heartbreaking," Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said. "The Jewish community of Michigan should be able to live in peace and practice their faith." The Jewish Federation of Detroit advised all Jewish organizations in the region to temporarily seal off their facilities.
In other areas of the USA, the presence of security forces outside Jewish institutions has been increased, according to police reports. At the press conference on the incident in the synagogue, the sheriff said that special attention was being paid to each other in the area in general. In the past two weeks, this had been done particularly intensively. He did not explicitly mention the Iran war as a possible reason for the incident.
